Labelling machines



Aug. 17, 1965 D. H. FAIREST 3,201,299

LABELLING MACHINES Filed Jan. 16, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 I nventor MM w M m Mym Atlorneyj Aug. 17, 1965 D. H. FAIREST 3,201,299

LABELLING MACHINES Filed Jan. 16, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 lnuenlor Attorney;

Aug. 17, 1965 D. H. FAIREST 3,201,299

LABELLING MACHINES Filed Jan. 16, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Inventor tlorney;

Aug. 17, 1965 D. H. FAIREST 3,201,299

LABELLING MACHINES Filed Jan. 16, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 lnvenlor Mm 7% 75M United States Patent 3,201,299 LABELLLNG MACHINES Derek H. Fairest, Sheifield, England, assignor to Morgan Fairest Limited Filed Jan. 16, 1963, Ser. No. 251,917 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Jan. 30, 1962', i 3,386/62 5 Ciairns. (Cl. 156-485) This invention relates to labelling machines of the type having an intermittently rotatable multi-faced pick-up turret with central apertures in its faces, means to gum the faces along each side of each aperture, a label stack to apply to each face in turn a label to adhere to the gummed sides of the face so as to receive a corresponding complement of gum on one of its faces in areas separated by an ungummed area extending over the aperture in the face, a transfer member continuously rotatable about an axis parallel to the apertures in the faces of the pick-up turret and having an arm that carries a transfer finger in an orbital path that intersects the positions of two of the faces of the pick-up turret in any of the intermittent positions of rest of the turret, the finger being rotatable about its own axis with respect to the arm and being provided with label-holding suction openings along the length of one ofits faces, means to maintain that face of the finger always parallel to the position temporarily occupied by one of the faces of the turret intersected by the orbital path, and a delivery member with label-holding suction openings. to receive from the transfer finger a gummed label detached by the finger from a face of the turret.

The invention is particularly concerned with the application of a gummed label by such a transfer finger to a delivery member of the type consisting of two wiper fiaps disposed edgewise with a space "between them and in alignment with each other at each side of the centre line of a feed path for generallycylindrical upright articles, such as bottles, the flaps having label-holding suction openings in their faces directed oppositely to the direction of feed of articles along the path, and each being pivoted on substantially vertical hinges at each side of the path, so that an article carried along the path can swing the flaps about their hinges as it passes between them to have applied to it a label presented gummed-side towards the article by the flaps. Theswinging of the fiaps by the article causes the flaps to Wipe the label to each side of the article from the central portion of the article encountered by the central portion of the label as presented by the flaps, so that the label is pressed by the wipers into conformity with the shape of the portion of the article to which the label is to be applied, the flaps then returning to their initial alignment ready to receive another label.

The object of the invention is to provide that a transfer finger that has detached a" label from a gummed face of the pick-up turret passes between the delivery member flaps in the feed direction of the articles, with its suction face rearwards, so as to leave held to the flaps a label carried by that face as the finger completes its passage between the flaps.

Accordingly,the present invention comprises a labelling machine having a pick-up turret, gumming means, label stack, transfer member, article feed path, and wiper flaps as above defined, the direction of rotation of the arm carrying the transfer finger being such that the finger is moved into the pick-up turret from the outside of an apertured face of the turret when the latter is at rest, and

the finger being orientated on its carrying arm with its suction face parallel to the turret face occupying that position of rest, and the wiper flaps being mounted similarly parallel and having the space between them lying across the orbital path of the finger.

The finger having its suction face parallel to the face of the turret through the aperture of which it is about to enter that turret, a label held across that aperture by the gummed contact with the sides of the turret face is held in its central portion by suction to the finger as it is carried through the aperture to the inside of the turret, the gummed side portions of the label being drawn over the edges of the aperture. The finger, carrying the label, leaves the inside of the turret through the aperture of another face or through an open side between adjacent faces, and then approaches the wiper flaps. The suction face of the finger remains in its oriented position, so that it and the label remain parallel to the plane occupied by the label when first encountered by the finger at the turret face. As a result, the finger which was behind the label when it carried it inside the turret is now in front of the label as the wiper flaps are approached. Further, since the gummed side portions of the label occupied the label surface facing away from the suction face of the finger at that first encounter, that gummed surface faces away from the suction faces of the flaps as the latter are approached, and it is therefore the ungummed side por tions of the opposite surface of the label that encounter the suction faces of the flaps. With appropriate transfer of suction from the finger to the flaps as the: former passes between the latter, the label is left held to the flaps'with its face having the gummed side portions facing an on coming article on the feed path, timed to pass between the flaps after the finger has passed between them.

By appropriate timing of the intermittent rotation of the pick-up turret, and related operation of the gumming device and the label stack, the rate of continuous rotation of the transfer finger, and the feed rate of a succession of articles, each article finds a label waiting to be applied by the wiper flaps. In general, a single finger sufiices for the transfer member, but the use of a plurality of evenly spaced fingers is not precluded.

The pick-up turret may have eight apertured faces and be rotatable about an axis parallel to the transfer finger, the orbital path of the finger being of such a radius that the finger leaves the turret by an aperture in a face location removed from the location of the face through which the turret is entered. Thishas theconvenience that the fixed orientation of the finger brings the label edgewise to the aperture through which the turret is left, so that there is ample clearance to eliminate danger of contact of the gummed portions of the label with the turret during exiting.

The turret may be timed in its intermittent rotation to index by 45 while the finger is inside the turret or while the finger is outside the turret.

Alternatively, the pick-up turret may have four apertured faces alternating with four open sides round an octagon, the turret being rotatable about an axis parallel to the transfer finger and timed in its intermittent rotation toindeX by 45 while the finger is inside the turret, and the orbital path of the finger being of such a radius that the finger leaves the turret by anopen side in a location 90 removed from the location of the apertured face through which the turret is entered, the turret also being timed in its intermittent rotation to index by a further 45 while the finger is outside the turret.

Again, the pick-up turret may have two apertured faces disposed at opposite sides of a square, with the two remaining sides open, the turret being rotatable about an axis perpendicular to the transfer finger and open at the side or end opposite a closed side or end connecting the apertured faces, the orbital path of the finger being of such a radius that the finger leaves the turret by the open end, and the turret being timed in its intermittent rota- 3 tion to index by 180 while the finger is outside the turret.

The successive positions of the finger at entry into the turret, exit from the turret, and passage between the flaps may be evenly spaced at 90 apart.

The fixed orientation of the transfer fingeris advantageously effected by, three intermeshing gear wheels, one fixed at the rotatable axis of the transfer member, one of equal diameter to the first secured to the rotatable finger, and an idler carried by the arm of the transfer member.

The feed path for the articles may be rectilinear, or it may be curvilinear, e.g., circular, in its approach to and between the wiper flaps.

If superimposed pairs of wiper flaps are provided, a corresponding number of labels may be simultaneously applied to each article, that number being simultaneously applied to each face of the pickup turret and simultaneous ly transferred by the finger. Thus, an upper pair of flaps may serve to apply a neck label to a bottle that is receiving a body label from a lower pair. The neck label flaps should advantageously have modified hinging, so that their edges can move generally parallel to the sides of the bottle neck. Thus, each flap may be provided with both an upright hinge and a horizontal hinge.

The simultaneous wiping of the labels to the surface of the articles by the flaps that actually present the labels to the articles ensures accurate placing of the labels, particularly in the case of neck labels by minimising the opportunity for such labels to cant on the non-cylindrical surface to which they are being applied.

Two embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a plan of a machine for applying body labels and neck labels to bottles;

FIGURE la is a plan of a portion of the machine of FIGURE 1 having an alternate arrangement of the pickup turret; Y

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section on the line IIII of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a largely-sectional plan to a larger scale of alternative label supply and transfer mechanisms for use in the machine of FIGURES 1 and 2, but in the more limited application of neck labels only;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical section taken on the irregular line IVIV of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is an elevation of part of FIGURE 3 viewed in the direction of the arrow V; and

FIGURES 6, 7 and 8 are small scale diagrammatic views of part of FIGURE 3 at different stages of operation.

In FIGURES 1 and 2, a pedestal 1 has an in-feed conveyor 2 feeding bottles 3 to a star wheel 4, which directs the bottles in spaced and timed relationship into an orbital feed path on a rotary table 5 and beneath the ends of arms 6 of a rotary feed member 7. Each arm 6 carries a presser head 8 guided for vertical movement in a sleevelike body 8a which is urged upwardly by a spring 9 and provided with a follower roller 10 for engagement with a cam rail 11 for urging the body 8a and head 9 downwardly (against the urge of the spring 9) to grip to the table 5 a bottle 3 aligned with the head by the star wheel 4. A resilient but firm pressure is applied to the bottle by a spring 12, compressed between the head 8 and body 8a Within the hollow interior of body 8a. While held firmly between a presser head 8 and the table 5, each bottle 3 encounters a label delivery member 13 for applying a body label A and a neck label B, and then passes between wiper brushes 14, which complete the application of the labels A, B to the bottle before it arrives at a star wheel 15 abovewhich the cam rail 11 ends for release of the head 8 from the bottle, the star wheel 15 then directing the bottle to an out-feed conveyor 16.

' In continuing the description of the construction and operation of the machine of FIGURES 1 and 2, reference I will also be made to FIGURES 3 to 8 where similar parts appear to a larger scale and/ or at different stages of operation.

The label delivery member 13 consists of two superimposed pairs of wiper flaps 17, 18, each pair being disposed edgewise with a space between them and in alignment with each other (FIGURE 8) at each side of the orbital feed path of the bottles, the flaps having labelholding suction openings 19 (FIGURE 4) in their faces directed oppositely to the direction of feed of the bottles. The flaps 17 for applying a body label A are mounted on vertical pivots 20 on brackets 21, and the flaps 18 for applying a neck label B are mounted on near-vertical pivots 22 and horizontal pivots 23 (see also FIGURE 3 and FIGURES 6 to 8) on the same brackets 21. Body and neck labels A, B presented to the flaps (by means to be described presently) are held by suction applied to the non-gummed faces of the labels, so as to present the gummed faces of the labels towards an oncoming bottle 3, which swings the flaps (FIGURE 6) about their hinges 2% and 22, 23 as the bottle passes between them, the flaps then wiping the sides of the labels to each side of the bottle from the central portions of the bottle first encountered (FIGURE 7) by the central (and ungummed) portions of the gummed faces of the labels. The labels are thus pressed by the flaps 17, 18 into conformity with the shape of the body and neck portions respectively of the bottle before passing to and between the wiper brushes 14, which ensure that the sides of the labels are well pressed to the sides of the bottle. The flaps are springloaded (by springs not shown) towards the position of initial alignment (FIGURE 6) ready to receive another body label A and another neck label B.

Referring again to FIGURES 1 and 2, the labels A, B are presented to the flaps 17, 18 by a transfer mechanism 24 conveying the labels from a supply mechanism 25, which consists of a pick-up turret 26 intermittently rotatable on a vertical axis and having eight apertured faces 27, each of which is gummed along each side of its aperture 28 by a gumming device 29 at one position of rest of each face 27, and a pair of reciprocating label stacks 30, 31 for the body and neck labels A, B respectively, one label from each stack being extracted by the gum on an apertured face 27 arriving at the next position of rest. The transfer mechanism 24 consists of a twoarmed member 32 continuously rotatable about a vertical axis 33 and carrying on each arm 34 a transfer finger 35 in an orbital path 36 in a direction that takes the finger through the aperture 28 of a face 27 of the pick-up turret 26 holding labels at a further position of rest, to the inside of the turret, and out of the turret through the aperture of another face at yet another position of rest, the orbital path also intersecting the gaps between the flaps 17, 13. Each finger 35 has label-holding suction openings 37 (FIGURES 3, 4 and 5) in one of its faces, and is held while orbiting in a fixed orientation by three intermeshing gear wheels 38, one fixed at the rotatable axis 33, one of equal diameter to the first secured to the rotatable finger, and an idler (also of the same diameter) carried by one arm 34 of the transfer member, the gear at the axis 33 being common to both gear trains. The fixed orientation of the fingers 35 is such that the suction face of a finger approaching the turret contacts the nongummed faces of labels A, B held across the aperture 28 through which the finger will enter the turret 26, the finger holding the labels as it carries them through the aperture to the inside of the turret, and the gummed side portions of the labels being drawn over the edges of the aperture. The finger 35, carrying the labels A, B leaves the inside of the turret 26 by passing edgewise through the aperture 28 of a face 27 in a position removed from the entry location, and then approaches the wiper flaps 17, 18. The suction face of the finger remains in its oriented position, so that it and the labels remain parallel to the plane occupied by the labels when first encountered by the finger. As a result, the finger which was behind the labels when it carried them inside the turret is in front of the labels as the wiper flaps are approached. Further, since the gummed side portions of the labels A, B occupied the label surfaces facing away from the suction face of the finger at that first encounter, those gummed surfaces face away from the suction faces of the flaps 17, 18 as the latter are approached, and it is therefore the ungummed side portions of the opposite surfaces of the labels thatencounter the suction faces of the flaps. With appropriate transfer of suction (by simple rotary valves not shown) from the finger 35 to the flaps 17, 18 as the former passes between the latter, the labels A, B are left held to the flaps with their faces having the gummed side portions facing an oncoming bottle 3, timed to pass between the flaps after the finger has passed between them.

The turret 26 indexes by 45 while a finger 35 is inside the turret, to bring another face 27 of the turret holding labels A, B across its aperture 2% into position for the other finger 35 to encounter those labels and transfer them to the wiper fiaps 17, 18 in similar manner, in readiness for application by the flaps to the next succeeding bottle. In an alternate arrangement of the present invention illustrated in FIGURE la, the pick-up turret 26 may have four apertured faces 27 alternating with four open sides 27a round an octagon, the turret being rotatable about an axis parallel to the transfer finger, as in the embodiment of FIGURE 1. However, in this arrangement of FIGURE la, the mechanism is timed so that the intermittent rotation of the pick-up turret 26 indexes said turret by 45 while the finger is inside the same, and the orbital path of the finger is of such a radius that the finger leaves the turret 26 by the open side 27a in a location 90 removed from the location of the apertured face 27 through which the turret is entered. The turret is also timed in its intermittent rotation to index by a further 45 while the finger 35 is outside the turret 26. In this manner, another face 27 of the turret holding a label across its aperture 28 is brought into position for the next finger 35 to encounter in order to transfer it to the wiper flaps 17, 18 in a manner similar to that described with respect to the embodiment of FIG- URE 1.

As shown in FIGURE 2, the table 5 and feed member 7 are rotatable with a shaft 39, which is driven through bevel gears 40 by an output shaft 41 from one side of a reduction gearbox 42, the input shaft 43 of which carries a clutch pulley 44 driven by a belt drive 45 from a motor (not shown). The star wheels 4-, are driven by chain drives (not shown) from sprockets 46 on the shaft 39, and the conveyors 2, 16 by chain drives (also not shown) from sprockets 47 on the shaft 41. An output shaft 48 from the other side of the gearbox 42 drives the shaft 33 of the transfer mechanism 24 through bevel gears 49, and through bevel gears 50, 51 it also drives shafts 52, 53 leading to the pick-up turret 26 and label stacks 30, 31 and the guming device 29, respectively. The shaft 52 leads to an intermittent drive mechanism 54 for the pick-up turret and to a sprocket 55 for a chain drive (not shown) to reciprocatory mechanism (also not shown, but generally similar to that in FIGURE 3) for the label stacks, which have been omitted from FIGURE 2 for the sake of clarity, while the shaft 53 leads to a chain drive 56 for the gumming device.

In FIGURE 4, the shaft 33 is fixed in an overhung bracket 57 carried by a gearbox 58, and the two-armed transfer member 32 is driven around the shaft 33 by a chain drive 59 and gears 60 from a shaft 61, which is driven through bevel gears (not shown) from the shaft 48 (FIGURE 2). The shaft 61 is the only one driven by the shaft 48, the other drives shown in FIGURE 2 being omitted when the mechanism of FIGURES 3 to 5 is used in place of the corresponding parts of the machine of FIGURES 1 and 2. Helical gears 62 transmit the drive from the shaft 61 to the input shaft 63 (FIG- ure 3) of the gearbox 58, the shaft 63 extending through the other side of the gearbox to drive reciprocatory mechanism 64 for a stack 31A for the neck labels B, and a chain drive 65 from the shaft 63 drives a shaft 66, which is connected by gears 67 to a gumming device 29A (see also FIGURE 5). Label supplying mechanism 25A is completed by a pick-up turret 26A having two apertured sides 27A and intermittently rotatable with a horizontal shaft 68 driven through gears 69 and intermittent drive mechanism 70 from the shaft 63. Each side 27A of the turret 26A has an aperture 28A at right-angles to the axis of the turret, each aperture extending to an edge of the side of the turret that is lowermost in a position of rest facing the label stack 31A and uppermost in another (and only other) position of rest at the other side of the turret from the label stack. The turret also has a completely open side or end 27B opposite a closed side or end 27C connecting the faces 27A and attached to the shaft 68 (see also FIGURES 6 to 8). t

The orbital path 36 of the fingers 35 takes each finger through the aperture 28A of a face 27A that has been brought by rotation of the turret 26A from the position of rest facing the label stack 31A to the position of rest at the other side of the turret (FIGURE 6), for the finger to contact the non-gummed face of a label A detached from the stack (FIGURE 7) by gurn applied to the face 27A by the gumming device 29A as the face 27A is brought from the position of rest away from the stack to the position of rest facing the stack, and hold the label as it carries it through the aperture 28A to the inside of the turret, the gummed side portions of the labels being drawn over the edges of the aperture. The finger 35, carrying the label B, leaves the inside of the turret 26A by passing edgewise through the open side 27B of the turret (FIGURE 7), and then approaches the wiper flaps 13 and passes between them (FIGURE 6), to leave the label B held by the flaps, as described in relation to the complete machine of FIGURES 1 and 2, particularly with further reference to FIGURES 6 to 8. Application of the label B to a bottle 3 proceeds in preciselythe same manner as previously described.

The gearbox 58, carrying the transfer mechanism 24, turret 26A, gumming device 29A and label stack 31A, is slidable vertically in a bracket 71 on the pedestal 1, and may be adjusted by means of a screw 72 (rotatable by a handwheel, not shown) in accordance with the required height of application of neck labels to bottles of any particular nominal height.

While the turret 26A is shown arranged for neck labels only-thus having the advantage of being considerably more compact than the turret 26a somewhat larger but similar turret (not shown) with deeper apertured sides may be used in place of the turret 26A for both body and neck labels. Thus, in FIGURE 4, an extension 35A of one of the fingers 35 is indicated in broken line between flaps 17 (also indicated in broken l'me) as shown in FIGURE 2 for applying body labels A in precisely the same manner as previously described. A replacement gearbox, with the appropriate turret, gumming device and label stacks, can be fitted readily in the bracket 71.

What we claim is:

1. A labelling machine of the type described comprising a pick-up member with at least two apertures, drive means for intermittently rotating said pick-up member, a gumming device for applying gum along each side of each aperture in turn, a label stack to apply a label across each aperture in turn, a transfer member continuously rotatable about an axis parallel to at least one of the positions of rest of the apertures of the pick-up member and having an arm that carries a transfer finger in an orbital path that intersects an aperture in said one position of rest, the transfer finger being rotatable about its own axis with respect to the arm and being provided with label-holding suction openings along the length of one of its faces, means to maintain said one face of the transfer finger always parallel to the part of the pick-up member containing the aperture temporarily occupying said one position of rest whereby said transfer finger is orientated on its carrying arm with said one face facing towards the aperture through which it is about to pass in said one position of rest, a feed path for generally cylindrical upright articles, conveyor means for feeding the articles in spaced relation past a labelling station positioned along said feed path, delivery means at said labelling station consisting of two wiper flaps disposed edgewise with a space between and in alignment with each other at each side of the center line of the feed path, said wiper flaps having label-holding suction openings in their faces directed oppositely to the direction of feed of articles along the path, said wiper flaps being pivoted on substantially vertical hinges at each side remote from the path, drive means for continuously rotating the transfer member so that'the transfer finger is moved through an aperture of the pick-up member in said one position of rest, said transfer member being rotated in such a direction that said member enters said aperture on the side that carries the label whereby said label is carried through said aperture, said transfer member being so positioned that said orbital path of the transfer finger coincides with said feed path for the articles at said labelling station, said wiper flaps being parallel to said one face of said transfer finger whereby a label on said transfer finger is orientated to be received by said wiper flaps at said labelling station for delivery to an article.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said pick-up member consists of a box having eight apertured faces, said box being rotatably mounted about an axis parallel to the transfer finger, said orbital path being of such a radius that the finger leaves said box by an aperture in a face location 90 removed from the location of the face through which said box is entered, said drive means for intermittently rotating said box being timed to index by 45 after each label has been carried through an aperture across which the label was applied by the label stack.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said pick-up member consists of a turret having four apertured faces the transfer finger, said orbital path being of such a radius that the finger leaves said turret by an open side in a location 90 removed from the location of the face through which said turret is entered, said drive means for intermittently rotating said turret being timed to index by 45 after each label has been carried through an aperture across which the label was applied by the label stack and to index by a further 45 while the transfer finger is outside the pick-up turret.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein said pick-up member consists of a turret having two apertured faces disposed at opposite sides of a square, the other two sides of said square being open, said turret being rotatably mounted at a closed end about an axis perpendicular to the transfer finger and having an open end opposite said closed end, said closed end connecting the apertured faces, said orbital path being of such a radius that the finger leaves said turret by the open end, said drive means for intermittently rotating said turret being timed to index by 180 while the transfer finger is outside said turret.

5. The combination of claim 1 wherein is further pr0- vided a pair of wiper brushes disposed at each side of the center line of said feed path downstream of said labelling station.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS EARL M. BERGERT, Primary Examiner. 

1. A LABELLING MACHINE OF THE TYPE DESCRIBED COMPRISING A PICK-UP MEMBER WITH AT LEAST TWO APERTURES, DRIVE MEANS FOR INTERMITTENTLY ROTATING SAID PICK-UP MEMBER, A GUMMING DEVICE FOR APPLYING GUM ALONG EACH SIDE OF EACH APERTURE IN TURN, A LABEL STACK TO APPLY A LABEL ACROSS EACH APERTURE IN TURN, A TRANSFER MEMBER CONTINUOUSLY ROTATABLE ABOUT AN AXIS PARALLEL TO AT LEAST ONE OF THE POSITIONS OF REST OF THE APERTURES OF THE PICK-UP MEMBER AND HAVING AN ARM THAT CARRIES A TRANSFER FINGER IN AN ORBITAL PATH THAT INTERSECTS AN APERTURE IN SAID ONE POSITION OF REST, THE TRANSFER FINGER BEING ROTATABLE ABOUT ITS OWN AXIS WITH RESPECT TO THE ARM AND BEING PROVIDED WITH LABEL-HOLDING SUCTION OPENINGS ALONG THE LENGTH OF ONE OF ITS FACES, MEANS TO MAINTAIN SAID ONE FACE OF THE TRANSFER FINGER ALWAYS PARALLEL TO THE PART OF THE PICK-UP MEMBER CONTAINING THE APERTURE TEMPORARILY OCCUPYING SAID ONE POSITION OF REST WHEREBY SAID TRANSFER FINGER IS ORIENTATED ON ITS CARRYING ARM WITH SAID ONE FACE FACING TOWARDS THE APERTURE THROUGH WHICH IT IS ABOUT TO PASS IN SAID ONE POSITION OF REST, A FEED PATH FOR GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL UPRIGHT ARTICLES, CONVEYOR MEANS FOR FEEDING THE ARTICLES IN SPACED RELATION PAST A LABELLING STATION POSITIONED ALONG SAID FEED PATH, DELIVERY MEANS AT SAID LABELLING STATION CONSISTING OF TWO WIPER FLAPS DISPOSED EDGE- 